Graphic Design USA Magazine

For much of its first 50 years, GDUSA had a standoff-ish relationship with the design schools. We defined ourselves, and were defined, as a trade/business magazine – writing about working designers doing their work. And though the schools were always wonderful centers of learning, they were often self-consciously insular. This has all changed for the better.

First, the great, progressive design schools have become muscular, career-oriented, outward looking, engines of growth in the creative community and their local communities. Second, design education is more vital than ever as the lines between studio and classroom, undergraduate and professional education, blur. Indeed, the September/October GDUSA magazine features a50th anniversary survey on design education. It includes a ten-point summary of what working designers think about design education today. And our readers’ take on the top design schools of the past half-century.